I am a good odor guy! What I mean by that, is I think I get more joy with pleasant smells probably more than any other of my senses. I like good smelling things: cologne, perfume, candles, air fresheners, food, etc. But just as much as I find joy in good smells, I abhor foul odors or smells that I dislike.
The profound
recognition of how smell influences my life has been illuminated by the loss of
smell I have experienced as one of the symptoms of my struggle with the
Coronavirus. Losing the sense of smell has denied me the ability to savor life
through my nose. I have effectively lost the experiential nature of my number 1
sense. Add to that the sadness I feel when each member of Okatee and other friends
of mine get the Coronavirus, when we have to suspend gathering together, when I
don’t feel good enough to do simple things in life, and when I can’t be around
people because I am considered contagious, my spirit gets depressed. I find
myself in a valley wanting to savor the goodness of God and struggling because
I feel isolated and alone.
But after 7 days,
God has drawn my attention to King David’s encouragement in Psalm 34, verse 8; “Taste
and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes
refuge in him.”
I want to
taste and see that the Lord is good and tasting involves testing or sampling;
to see involves understanding or perceiving. The phrase taste and see,
then, means “try and experience.” David urges God’s people to discover
the goodness of the Lord by personal trial and experience it
for themselves. He doesn’t want readers to merely take his word for it that the
Lord is good; he wants them actively to experience and know for themselves the
fact that God is good.
To actively experience means to savor or find out exactly how satisfyingly good
God is. The apostle Peter applies the same language in 1 Peter 2:3 when he says, “You have tasted that the Lord
is good.”
Tasting must happen before seeing; that is, our spiritual experiences bring us
to spiritual enlightenment and understanding. David desires others to “taste
and see.” He wants them to experience what he has experienced so that they can
know what he has come to know, the soul-sustaining goodness of the Lord. And
when this happens, “we (become) the aroma of Christ to God among those who are
being saved and among those who are perishing,” 2 Cor 2:15.
So, what I
have I learned in week 1 of my Covid 19 can’t smell quarantine:
- I must take responsibility for what I choose to savor.
- I must quiet my life so that I can discover (and savor) the quiet undercurrents of joy.
- I must release my feelings of failure to God and choose to savor His replenishing promises.
I can't wait until we can gather again.
